Monday, December 1, 2014

We've has a bit of a cold snap here in the Lower Mainland since Friday - it has barely been near freezing and we've been as low as -12C.

Consequently I've not been able to prime the bases.

I'm taking the "down time" to build marines. Though I have a bit of a dilemma whether to run them as Space Marines, or Chaos Space Marines, for the AdeptiCon events I'm playing in.
Luckily at this point I don't have to firm up my choice, as the models and list I have can switch between either.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

As I posted on Monday I successfully survived AdeptiCon... well the registration portion - which is no mean feat unto itself!
Now, with a mere 113 days until the event (112 until I fly), it is time to get on with the project.

A couple of years ago a group of us were going to play in the team event. It was the first year after the Forgeworld Heresy books had been announced, so we decided to go with a 40k 30K-Heresy theme.
Unfortunately one of the team fell ill quite early on in the process, so it was dropped.

I still have all the models, so for 2015 I'll be completing the army. And by completing I mean starting!

For the event one of the guys sculpted and cast vast quantities of Istvaan themed bases for us.

So today's update is base prep.

Stage one - wash! I use Simple Green (which is a good degreaser). I can't stress this enough - wash your models. This is especially true for resin models which have a demolding compound on them from casting. It also applies to metal models which often have a powder releasing agent, as well as plastic sprues which may have oil from the steel/aluminium dies.

The number of times that I read about bad primer reactions, or paints flaking off later on is astonishing. This simple step can dramatically help reduce the fail rate of primer/paint adhesion.

The other one is using the right (and an actual) primer. But that is for next time!

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Forgeworld comes out with a new model (shiney!), or a new codex is published and the obligatory new stuff that comes along with it catches your attention.

This is probably why I have 15 armies for 40k that exceed 2000 points - painted...

So when it comes to the "crunch" how can we keep on top of the priority projects and keep the "squirrels" out of sight?

Recently a few of us have taken to using KanbanFlow tables. These work on the principles of Lean management. Fundamentally they are a visualization tool of your work; allowing to keep track of progress, and in the case of the paid version track efficiency.
I, of course, use the free tool.

This is my current chart. The "abandoned projects" column was a recent addition... bloody Space Wolves Codex.

I colour code by army, or in the case Yellow, generic hobby stuff.

This tool has been very useful to me, especially for the recent Deathwatch project. It is also nice to see your units "march" across the columns!

Friday, September 5, 2014

I've had this project on my table for about 3 years. In that time two versions of 40k have been born, and two Space Marine Codexes have also popped up. Sadly the Inquisitional codexes have gotten crappier, with less "canon" being followed, and more game play emphasis creeping in.

Also in that time, my club-mate Nick has built and played with his Deathwatch army quite a few times!

Well now it is my turn...

With the Ordo Fanaticus Club Challenge just a few weeks away (literally), A-Club Overachievers will be representing again. We'll talk more about our theme after the tourney, but I'm anticipating a fun team event in Portland.

My idea is to go with a Iron Hands themed list, that is fast and hard hitting.
In the Deathwatch, Marines are recruited from many chapters, and are lead by a Captain. That Captain's background often dictates the tactics the squads employ (DW Marines are usually deployed in small highly specialized units, but for the tourney these guys are responding en masse to a larger threat). As you can tell from the pictures I have used shoulder pads from just about every (loyalist!) chapter that FW and GW has produced them for. I have also used a couple of 3rd-party pads to represent chapters I have an affinity with.

(please forgive the poor photo quality. With my lens in the mail to Canon I had to resort to my iPhone which lacks the depth of field capacity, and was attached to my slightly shaky hands!)

My commander; converted from a FW Praetor, the Command backpack, the Storm-shield from the Games Day Boarding Marine a few years ago, and a terminator fist to attach the shield to the chopped (oh, it hurt cutting that gun off!) arm.

Troops are basic marine squads, led by Iron Hands sergeants.

I'm using Sternguard Vets in Drop pods, with Heavy Flamers and plenty of combi-weapons!

Heavy support comes from the Thunderfire Cannon, which I have learned to love in game play almost as much as I hated putting the horrible thing together!
There are also two Deathstorm drop pods (which were actually the inspiration for the army).

Fast Attack comes from Stormtalons and a Land Speeder.

As you can tell, I have gone with a resin base, using the fantastic Wastelands ranges from Dragon Forge Design. The Stormtalons are mounted on a flying kit (mount under the flyer and rod), and DFD will drill out the base to take the plexiglass rod.

As OFCC is a team event, with theme encouraged, we have done special objective markers....
... but you'll have to wait until after the event!

Hope you enjoy the images. Feel free to drop comments and ask questions.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

The scary part is that I have not done much new since then. Sure, we have got a new version (or was that two!) of 40k, and all the codexes have been reworked....

Well my friends I have news; I'll be posting my first new project since 2010 shortly!

I've been working on a new army for Astronomi-Con Vancouver (which was unfortunately cancelled yesterday) and the Ordo Fanaticus Club Challenge in September.

As I'm off work I've been able to get a lot done, and if that situation continues I may be able to complete older projects like my Traitor Imperial Guard... errr... Astra Militarium Hereticus... errr... Blood Pact.
I'll be sharing some hobby stuff too.